China has sentenced a man to six years in prison after being found guilty of provoking trouble and growing a beard.

Authorities in China's Xinjiang province have been discouraging men to grow beards, saying the practice was associated with extremist ideas. The 38-year-old man from the Muslim ethnic group, Uighurs, began growing his beard in 2010.

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His wife, who has been wearing a veil to hide her face and a burqa to cover her body, was also given a two-year sentence.  

Xinjiang authorities have been campaigning against men growing beards for over a year now, fanning tensions between Beijing and members of the Uighur's ethnic group. A program dubbed "Project Beauty" was also launched to encourage women to show off their faces and leave their veils at home.

Authorities said the couple had received warnings before charges were filed against them. They were charged of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" --- vague arguments often used by Chinese courts, particularly in the Xinjiang city of Kashgar.

Uighur men growing beards and women wearing veils are a big part of  the ethnic group's culture and religion. 

"Since the beginning of the year, a certain number of people breaking the regulation on beards, veils and burqas have been prosecuted and sentenced," Kashgar officials said.

In April 2014, Xinjiang's Shaya county officials offered a reward to anyone who could provide information on neighbors who were growing excessive facial hair.

In August of the same year, Karamay city authorities banned people with huge beards or those wearing Islamic clothing from getting on public buses.

China has heightened its alert as violence increased last year. Authorities say at least 200 people died in bomb attacks and series of clashes --- which Beijing blamed on separatist groups and "religious extremists."

Tagsproject beauty, Muslim, Xinjiang, Beard